ualendarNo, 291 . 


63d Congkess, ) 

SENATE. 

J Report 

*2d Session. j 


j No. 348. 


RADIUM. 


March 16, 1914.—Ordered to be printed. 


f * ' ^ Qitmj . g, _ 

Mr. Walsh, from the Committee on Mines and Mining, submitted the 

following 

REPORT, 

[To accompany S. 4405.] 

The Committee on Mines and Mining, to which was referred the 
bill (S. 4405) to provide for and encourage the prospecting, mining, 
and treatment of radium-bearing ores in lands belonging to the 
United States, for the purpose of securing ah adequate supply of 
radium for Government and other hospitals in the United States, 
and for other purposes, reports: 

HEARINGS. 

In the belief that the radium situation in the United States in its 
bearing upon pending legislation had been adequately set forth before 
the House Committee on Mines and Alining, it was not originally 
intended to arrange for hearings before the Senate committee; but 
the parties who appeared before the House committee in opposition 
to this legislation asked to be further heard before the Senate com¬ 
mittee, and the request was granted to the extent that hearings were 
begun on February 10, 1914, and continued at intervals during the 
two weeks following. Before the conclusion of these hearings the 
Director of the Bureau of Alines and Mr. Hess, as representing the 
United States Geological Survey, were asked to furnish the committee 
certain information on this subject; and Dr. Anderson, of the Public 
Health Service, was asked to inform the committee as to the quantity 
of radium needed for use in connection with the Government hos¬ 
pitals, and how this radium could be best used in connection with the 
needs of the general public. 

GENERAL STATEMENT. 

The bill as reported gives the Government the prior right to pur¬ 
chase radium-bearing ores mined from the public lands located after 





























































2 


RADIUM. 



the passage of this act at such prices, to be 1 fixed by the Secretary 
of the Interior and published in advance, as will encourage the pros¬ 
pecting for and mining of such ores by private parties. It also 
authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide the necessary 
building and equipment with which to extract the radium from these 
ores; to sell the by-products obtained in connection with such op¬ 
erations. The prospector and miner is thus given the assurance of a 
steady market and prompt payment at reasonable prices for the ores 
which he mines; and, if at any time the Government is not prepared 
to purchase such ores, he is authorized to sell them in the open 
market. 

NECESSITY FOR SUCH LEGISLATION. 

The report of the House Committee on Mines and Mining (IT. R. 
2IT) sets forth so clearly the radium situation and the need for such 
legislation that it calls for but brief further treatment. 

In the first place, the call for this legislation has a humanitarian 
basis because of its relations to public health, and the arguments 
which might be raised against the Government's entering into min¬ 
ing or metallurgical operations in relation to other mineral sub¬ 
stances, which might have a purely commercial basis, might not 
apply in this instance: 

The experiences of the few surgeons in this and other countries 
who have been able to secure a sufficient quantity of radium for use 
in the treatment of disease have demonstrated beyond reasonable 
doubt the importance of radium as a cure for certain superficial 
types of cancer, and give promise of its Value in supplementing sur¬ 
gical operations in the treatment of other forms of cancer if this 
treatment can be begun in the early stages of the disease and as sur¬ 
geons secure radium enough to become more experienced in methods 
of its application. 

Best statistics available show that there are in the United States 
at the present time no less than 200,000 persons suffering from cancer, 
and that the death list in the United States from this dread disease 
is not less than 75,000 persons each year. 

At the present time there are not more than 40 grams of radium 
in all countries available for the use of medical science, and of this 
quantity not more than 2 grams are available for use in the United 
States. 

The world’s supply of radium ores outside of the United States is 
so small that the best available estimates indicate that during 1914 
all of the ores mined in these countries will yield but 12 grams (less 
than one-half ounce) of radium bromide. 

The most important and the most extensive radium ore deposits 
known are those in Colorado and Utah, all of these until quite re¬ 
cently on public lands of the United States. During the past 12 to 
18 months all of the known deposits of radium-bearing ores on these 
public lands have been taken up by private parties. Many of them 
are now held by foreign corporations, while many other claims are 
held by American citizens who are acting as agents or representatives 
of foreign corporations. During the year 1913, of the 2,140 tons of 
radium-bearing ores mined in the United States, ores containing 
one-half of the radium content were shipped abroad for treatment. 

^ Q. OF D. 

f(-f— /6 * AY 27 W4 


RADIUM. 


3 


x 

4 

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The remainder were held in the United States for treatment by two 
American plants located in the State of Pennsylvania. The radium 
extracted by these two plants during 1913 from American ores will 
be sold in the open market at prices which are believed to be largely 
speculative—$120,000 to $160,000 per gram (a quantity about equal 
to a garden pea) ; and, as brought out before the House committee, 
the larger of these two concerns is already under agreement to fur¬ 
nish the larger part of this output for 1914 to foreign purchasers. 

The quantity of radium needed for the work of the Public Health 
Service at its more than 20 hospitals distributed throughout the 
United States and for the Army and Navy hospitals was stated be¬ 
fore the committee to be 30 grams (about 1 ounce). The estimates 
submitted indicate that a plant to be operated by the Government 
as proposed in this legislation could produce this quantity of radium 
at a cost less than half of the above-named prices. And, in addition 
to this saving to the Government of more than $1,500,000, the publi¬ 
cation of the results of all the Government’s operations as to proc¬ 
esses, costs, etc., would benefit the western miners and the public 
by facilitating fair dealing and open competition. 

As indicating the importance of prompt action in this matter, it 
may be stated that since the introduction of the legislation now be¬ 
ing considered the representatives of the foreign purchasers of 
radium ores and of the two radium extraction plants in the United 
States have been making rush examinations of the entire radium ore 
field in Colorado and Utah, and have been locating every area of 
public land on which there was evidence of the occurrence of radium- 
bearing ores. 

As the situation now stands, the public lands containing this re¬ 
source of peculiar importance to the people of this country are be¬ 
ing taken into private ownership in such manner as seems likely to 
bring the control of the radium supply into the hands of a few per¬ 
sons, to whom the hospitals of this country must pay exorbitant 
profits. In addition, the fact that the extraction of radium is car¬ 
ried on by secret processes lends itself to and facilitates the establish¬ 
ment of monopoly. 

In view of the foregoing the committee recommend that the bill 
be passed with the following amendments: 

On page 1, line 3, after the word “ That,” insert the word “ here¬ 
after.” 

On page 1, line 9, after the word “ provided,” strike out “ and all 
said ores here-,” and, continuing on page 2, strike out lines 1, 2, and 3, 
and the words “ sold and delivered ” in line 4. 

On page 2, line 16, strike out the period after the word “ issued ” 
and insert the following: 


for lands located under this act: Provided, That if the United States shall at any¬ 
time fail or refuse to purchase any such radium ores of sufficient value to be 
merchantable, extracted from any such lands so located, whether patented or 
unpatented, upon the tender of the same for sale in carload lots at any railroad 
station, the exclusive right of the United States to purchase such ore or any 
ores thereafter extracted from the mining claim from which the same were 
mined and from all other mining claims contiguous thereto and held in common 
therewith, as well as the right to enter upon the same for failure diligently to 
mine any of such claims, shall thereupon cease, and the unrestricted right of 
disposition of all ores within such claims or extracted therefrom shall thereupon 
accrue to the owner, lessee, or other rightful occupant thereof. 


4 


RADIUM. 


Strike out section 2, on pages 2 and 3, and insert in lieu thereof the 
following: 

Sec. 2. That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized to 
lease for the purpose of exploration and development of radium-bearing ores 
unallotted lands within Indian reservations now existing or hereafter estab¬ 
lished by act of Congress or Executive order in such quantities and upon such 
terms and conditions and under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe: 
Provided, That such radium-bearing ares when piined shall be sold and deliv¬ 
ered to the United States as herein provided: And provided further, That all 
royalties derived from any such leases or rentals or other moneys paid on ac¬ 
count of the same shall be deposited to the credit of the Indians entitled to 
occupy the reservation from which the same come, to be expended for their 
benefit, as the Secretary of the Interior may direct. 

On page 3, line 6, after the word “ ores,” insert the words “ from 
lands located under the provisions of this act.” 

On page 4, line 1, after the word “ at,” strike out the words “ such 
prices to be fixed ” and insert in lieu thereof the words “ the market 
price to be determined.” 

On page 4,, line 3, after the word “ year,” strike out the words 
“ as will insure the prospecting for and,” and on the same page, in 
line 4, strike out the words “ mining of such ores.” 

On page 4, line 22, strike out the w T ord “ authorized ” and insert in 
lieu thereof the word “ appropriated.” 

Add, after section 6, sections 7 and 8, as follows: 

Sec. 7. That nothing herein contained shall be construed to affect or abridge 
the right, in good faith, to locate or appropriate (under existing laws) any 
public lands, whether mineral or otherwise, not known by the locator or appro- 
priator to be of value because of any radium-bearing ores therein, and any pat¬ 
ent issued for such lands so located or appropriated shall be unlimited in 
character except as in such laws provided, anything in this act to the contrary 
notwithstanding. 

Sec. 8. Except as herein provided the general laws in relation to the disposi¬ 
tion of mining lands shall be applicable to the lands in this act referred to 
containing radium-bearing ores. 










































